KAIRO connections

[Yuko Schilling]

Tom Mes is right about Ring scriptwriter Hiroshi Takahashi's influence on
the genesis of Kairo: In an interview on the set last spring, Kurosawa told
me that he and Takahashi "think alike" though he claimed that the
resemblance between the two films was a "coincidence." Here's the link for
the edited version of the interview that was printed in the Japan Times:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?ff20010227a2.htm

Here also is the link to my Japan Times review of the film:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?ff20010227a1.htm

Kurosawa clearly wanted Kairo to a genre entertainment that would appeal to
a general audience. He told me that he did not consider it a festival
film -- though I'm sure he had no objections to its selection for Cannes. He
was also happy to be working with a half-decent budget for once. He told me
that he had been dreaming of filming an airplane crashing into Tokyo Bay for
a decade -- and in Kairo he finally got his wish, even though the crash was
a CG effect.

Mark Schilling
schill at gol.com



-----Original Message-----
$B:9=P?M(B : Tom Mes <china_crisis at hotmail.com>
$B08 at h(B : KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
<KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
$BF|;~(B : 2001$BG/(B5$B7n(B27$BF|(B 23:48
$B7oL>(B : Re: Kiyoshi Kurosawa's KAIRO


>It is indeed true that Kurosawa's work is valued very highly in Europe, and
>in France in particular. Kairo was released in cinemas in Paris a mere
three
>days after the end of the Cannes festival (making it to number six in the
>box office charts after less than a week), and a small-scale retrospective
>of his films (Cure, Charisma, License to Live) is running in the Quartier
>Latin to mark the occasion.
>
>I found Kairo to once again be a very effective piece of horror cinema,
with
>a strong thematic undercurrent. My personal opinion is that Kurosawa is one
>of the very, very few filmmakers in the last few decades to know what truly
>constitutes a horror film, showing us that despite the bad image the genre
>may have, it can still produce works of art.
>
>As for the Ring/Kairo connection, I have the suspicion Kurosawa was
>misquoted in the French press about his discussions with the director of
>Ring, believing he referred to its scriptwriter Hiroshi Takahashi instead,
>who is a good friend of Kurosawa's and occasional collaborator (Takahashi
>wrote Serpent's Path / Ja No Michi amongst others).
>
>One word on the Ring comparisons, though. I feel it's a bit obvious to
>compare every Japanese horror film that's come out in the last few years to
>Ring. Yes, it was successful, yes, it's had a lot of publicity, and yes,
>it's had its share of imitators and cash-ins, but I feel it's far too
narrow
>a frame of reference, especially for the likes of Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Though
>there's no denying Ring's success was a major contributing factor to Kairo
>getting the green light from Daiei, I hardly feel it's been a creative
>influence. Kurosawa has after all been making, watching and studying genre
>films long before this whole Ring phenomenon happened.
>
>Tom Mes
>Midnight Eye - japan_cult_cinema
>http://www.midnighteye.com
>tom at midnighteye.com
>_________________________________________________________________________
>Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
>
>

-----Original Message-----
$B:9=P?M(B : Tom Mes <china_crisis at hotmail.com>
$B08 at h(B : KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
<KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
$BF|;~(B : 2001$BG/(B5$B7n(B28$BF|(B 18:48
$B7oL>(B : Re: KA(IO(BRO connections


>Is a horror movie not a horror movie when it aims to do more than scare?
Are
>Sam Peckinpah's films not action films because of their message? In other
>words: does a genre film cease to be just that when it brings more then the
>minimum requirements?
>
>I feel Kairo's main intention is most definitely to scare. Kurosawa's love
>for horror is far too often brushed over because of the themes he
>incorporates. Some people are a bit too eager to elevate him above the
level
>of a genre director, probably because they feel it's too lowly a
description
>for him and don't want to see him associated with the genre that has also
>given us Friday the 13th or Zombie Flesh Eaters.
>
>Yes, Kurosawa's films have a lot more going for them than just scares and I
>too feel he is in a class by himself as a filmmaker. But we shouldn't try
to
>deny his roots. They make him what he is, after all. As a filmmaker, he is
>all the more interesting because of them.
>
>Tom
>
>Midnight Eye - japan_cult_cinema
>http://www.midnighteye.com
>tom at midnighteye.com
>_________________________________________________________________________
>Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
>
>